Project: ‘Lunch Counter’ is an immersive film that transports viewers physically and digitally sixty-five years back in American history, specifically, the harsh lived reality of racial segregation experienced by Black Americans during the Jim Crow era. This film aims not only to educate, but also to fully immerse its audience with a first-person perspective of being a participant in the Greensboro 1960s lunch counter sit-ins. Ideally, there will be two installments or parts to this piece; a film and an interactive, fully immersive game walk-through version.

A prominent goal in the creation of this production is to connect an audience of all backgrounds to a time not so long ago in America’s past, highlighting the events of the Greensboro North Carolina sit-ins (a series of non-violent protests) that inspired a wave of similar movements in solidarity throughout the African American community nationwide. Ultimately the movement successfully led to the desegregation of many businesses in the South, while also further inspiring related movements such as the Freedom Riders and The Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC).

Using Apple Vision Pro technology to create a digital portal to the 1960s, ‘Lunch Counter,’ viewers will be offered the experience of creating an avatar or persona as part of the interactive script. Every viewer or audience member wishing to participate in the walkthrough will be given a different role, each acting as a peaceful protester taking an active part in the sit-ins. Implementing AI technology will allow audience members to upload their likeness onto an avatar that will be an active part of the protests, interacting with other characters/ audience members who are also part of the script. The aim in using this specific software is to educate the audience by having them feel, rather than merely see history, offering a first-person point of view and capturing the cultural significance of these moments, preserving them in their own time capsule. Our aim is to provide a nuanced and well-rounded depiction of these historically significant events from a personal standpoint, giving its viewers and participants an experience true to the raw emotions of the time.

Having a historically accurate representation of the Jim Crow South of the 1960s that also captures the resiliency and bravery that led to triumphs within the Civil Rights Movement serves to remind future generations why this part of our history should never be repeated. The hope is that this project will inspire the same bravery that those who sacrificed for the cause personified to continue the fight for social justice.

Related Projects:

‘We Want Some Coffee, Please,’ (May 1st, 2015) Directed and Produced by Cecil Brown https://youtu.be/AaTYlhgO4gQ?si=gja6ouBH7Gc1jV_B

'Resurgence of George Moses Horton: African American Oral Poetry in the Digital Era,' (July 28th, 2023) Directed by Cecil Brown https://youtu.be/tn9jAVLaRO0?si=i5CItzptlg5veTRV